The Stars Within Me
by Unrequited-Words
Summary: What happens if Lucy joins Fairy Tail… at the age of ten? No one knows a thing about her, so they call her Lucy-hime. What emotions really hide behind that gentle smile?
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: What happens if Lucy joins Fairy Tail… at the age of ten? No one knows who she is so they call her Lucy-hime. What emotions really hide behind that gentle smile?_

_Hey guys! This is my second fanfic and has a bit of a different writing style than my first one, but I hope you enjoy it. I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters!_

^.^/

X.x.X

A beautiful woman with hair as blue as the sea and eyes just as bright, is drenched in rain. Instead of feet, she had a long and elegant tail. She can move just as well as any human if there is water. Even a little will work. She levitates just inches above the ground, on the run for her life.

Her name is Aquarius.

In her hands is a ten year old girl with hair as bright as the stars. She is battered with scratches and is unconscious. The girl is tightly holding a golden key.

Her name is Lucy Heartfilia.

"Damn it!" shouts Aquarius as she is cornered into an alley.

A group of men in black suits and dark sunglasses gang up on her, handcuffs and high tech weapons in hand. There were maybe twenty or so of them.

Aquarius grits her teeth, clutching the young girl even tighter.

"This is your last chance, hand the girl over," threatens one of the men in front.

Aquarius glares at them, "Or what?"

"Or else," says the same man.

Aquarius looses it, "Damn you people to hell! You think you can threaten ME?"

Her eyes flash dangerously and start to glow. Her famous water jar appears in one hand.

A tower of water 20 feet high, cascading down upon them is the last thing those men see before blacking out.

"Lucy, hand on, we're almost there," murmurs Aquarius. She is exhausted and slightly injured. She can't hold on for much longer. She is using her own magic to stay in this world, but since the power of her owner reflects on her magic powers, she doesn't have much to spare.

Since Lucy has been knocked out for two days, Aquarius has been using her magic for 48 hours. She has been in the human world far too long.

Aquarius feels her vision blur, she can't keep her gate open for much longer. She knows that she has no more than a couple of hours left in the human world before she runs out of power and her gate closes by itself.

That's when she feels the pull of magic.

"Finally…" breathes Aquarius as she runs to the magic. It's a magic guild. She's heard of it in the spirit world, but it's a weak one.

Fairy Tail

Aquarius would prefer to leave Lucy in a stronger guild such as Phantom Lord, but now is not the time to be picky,

She slams the guild's door open.

"This girl needs help!" she shouts.

Everyone looks at her, she is panting hard.

Majority of them are children. Aquarius feels her hopes start to die.

A girl with a long red braid walks up to her, eyes suspicious.

"Who're you?" she asks cautiously, her sword in hand.

Aquarius narrows her eyes, "Aquarius."

"You're named after the constellation?" asks the girl.

Aquarius nearly snorts, can't they see her tail? "I AM the Aquarius of the stars, the water bearer."

Now, a smaller old man comes, his eyes are focused on the child.

"Erza, that young girl's badly hurt, let them in."

"Erza" nods and steps aside, but with a sword still in hand.

A young boy with pale red, basically pink, hair gawks at Aquarius, "Whoa! Cool! She's got a tail!"

A girl with a long white pony tail stomps on him, "Natsu you idiot, can't you see the girl and the woman are hurt?"

"OW!"

"Mira is right, don't be so impolite," lectures a girl with brown hair. It's also tied up in a ponytail, but her hair is shorter.

"Cana is right, don't be such an idiot Natsu," grunts Mira.

Aquarius just "floats" past them, there isn't any water, but she can still levitate.

"This girl needs help," says Aquarius again.

The old man nods, "Don't worry, we got her, just put her in the bed."

Aquarius sighs in relief, and places Lucy in the covers. She wipes Lucy's forehead.

"What's her name?" asks the old man.

"What is YOUR name?" Aquarius just pushes the question back.

The old man isn't fazed, "Makarov, and hers?"

"Lucy…" Aquarius hesitates, not sure about giving out Lucy's last.

"Is that all?" Makarov senses something out of the ordinary.

"No… if she wants to tell you the rest, its up to herself," replies Aquarius cautiously.

Makarov doesn't push it, "Fine then."

Erza walks up to them, "Is Lucy your daughter?"

Aquarius gives her a bewildered look, "No, does she even look like me?"

Erza shrugs, "You seemed to care about her a lot, that's all."

Aquarius sits down onto the floor, "She's my… master." She knows Lucy dislikes calling herself a master, but that's the only way that Aquarius can explain it to theses people.

The rest of the guild is interested now.

"Master?" echoes Erza.

"Yes, didn't I already say that?" snaps Aquarius. Lucy is the only person who she loves other than her boyfriend, everyone else is nothing to her.

"So you're her slave?" asks Cana, eyes wide.

Aquarius gives her a glare that Cana shrinks back.

"No, I am not! It's complicated alright!" shouts Aquarius, stressed.

Makarov seems to be the only person following.

"I see, so she's a celestial wizard," he says intelligently.

"What's a celestial wizard?" asks Natsu, a bit stupidly.

"It means she can wield magic like us, but instead of fighting by herself. Her spirits fight for her. Aquarius is most likely one of Lucy's spirits. They're sort of like weapons that one uses, making Lucy Aquarius' mast-," answers Makarov.

"Lucy… is not my master," interrupts Aquarius.

Makarov is confused, "But you said…"

"You people are so dimwitted! There was no possible way of explaining it without taking too long. She technically is my master, but she… never lets me call her that. Its always a "partner" or "friend"," Aquarius murmurs, tears threatening to fall.

"Damn it! Now I don't know if she'll ever wake up!" screams Aquarius. She wants to be angry at this guild, but there is no reason for her to be angry with them. That just frustrates her even more.

Everyone's eyes soften; Aquarius' tears transformed her into someone precious to them.

"Aquarius…" says Erza in sympathy.

_Damn this all… I'm crying in front of these strangers…_ she thinks, but the tears don't stop.

"Aquarius-nii…?" a small tired voice barely whispers out of nowhere.

Aquarius stops, and then lifts her hand from her face. She then turns around and sees Lucy, with her eyes open.

Lucy's face was pale, and was covered with scratches, but her dark brown eyes were soft and caring, showing no signs of hurt.

"Are you alright Aquarius-nii?" she asks again in a small voice.

"Lucy!" cries Aquarius as she embraces the little child. Tears are still streaming down her pale face.

Lucy is a bit stunned for a moment, and then she let out a smile that lit up the atmosphere, "I'm okay Aquarius-nii! Don't cry, I am here."

Lucy's smile turned her into someone you didn't really care about, to someone you really wanted to know.

Makarov turns away, secretly wiping away some tears.

Erza turns away and does the same.

Natsu just starts to bawl, which proves that he has no pride.

Soon, Aquarius stops her tears and looks at Lucy.

Natsu is still bawling his eyes out with Gray trying to calm the idiot down.

"I'm sorry Lucy," says Aquarius, ashamed.

Lucy looks surprised, "Why would you be? You saved me Aquarius-nii."

"I… wasn't there for you when you needed me."

"That's not true, you were there with me the entire time… but you need to go now," Lucy says gently.

Aquarius looks up, "No… I can't go back yet… You still need me…"

"She can stay with us."

Aquarius turns around, it was Makarov.

"You mean you'd accept her?" ventures Aquarius cautiously.

"Yes, we do," Erza replies, "We accept almost anyone."

Aquarius considers this, "Fine then, but treat her well… or face the wrath of water."

Almost everyone shivers.

"Aquarius-nii!" Lucy says, giggling, despite her wounds.

"Just kidding… not really," says Aquarius with a weak smile.

"Alright then… good-bye?" asks Lucy.

Aquarius hesitates, but nods, "Good bye…"

"Take care Aquarius-nii. Make sure you heal yourself," says Lucy as she takes out a golden gate key.

"Gate of the water bearer, close," says Lucy as Aquarius becomes enshrouded with light then disappears.

Silence

Lucy looks at her key and slips it back onto her keychain.

"Cool," says Mira.

Lucy blinks, and then looks up with curious brown eyes.

"Good day, My name Lucy!" she says with a small smile.

"Hello Lucy, I am Master Makarov, you'll be part of our family now," he says with a handshake.

Lucy looks at the Master Makarov, he was quite tiny.

"Oh... family?" she says a bit confused. It's been a while since she used that word, it's meaning has almost left her.

"Yes, we're a magic guild called Fairy Tail, but we're also a big family!" says Cana.

"Welcome to the family Lucy," says Erza.

It takes Lucy a while to register it, but then it hits her.

She lets out a big happy smile, "Arigato!" (that means thank you in Japanese) she exclaims happily.

Almost everyone welcomes her warmly back, with the exception of Mystogen. God knows where he is at the moment.

Then the long list of introductions begins.

Lucy is trying to stay calm by the sudden group of people that have come to her life, but it's not easy.

Finally, the last two people introduce themselves.

Lucy blinks as she sees a boy with a lightning shaped scar across his eye.

He is apparently bored out of his mind with her and just mutters a simple "Hi"

Lucy waves back awkwardly, "Hello Sir..."

"That's Laxus, but he's just mentally retarded," jokes Mira as she jumps onto his shoulders.

"Look who's talking," snaps Laxus as he pushes her off. The two start a fistfight.

Lucy blinks, what just happened?

Then she feels a gentle tap on her shoulder, it was the girl with the red hair again!

"I'm Erza Scarlette, do you want to live with me?"

Lucy is a bit taken back, "Huh?"

"Well, you don't really have a place to stay so I just thought you might like to stay over at my place… but you don't need to if you don't want to…" says Erza, a bit embarrassed.

Lucy stares at her for a moment then smiles, "Yes please Miss Scarlette, thank you!"

Erza blushes, this is the first time anyone has called her Miss Scarlette…

Lisanna goes up to her with an unreadable face. Lucy just stares back.

Then, Lisanna sticks her tongue out playfully, "You're the newbie now!"

It takes Lucy a while to register that word since she wasn't allowed to use words like that at home…

Lucy corrects herself mentally, Fairy Tail was her home form now on.

"I see, well I'll try my best Miss Lisanna," says Lucy.

Before Lisanna could say anything, Mira abandons her fight with Laxus, pissed.

"Damn it. What's with the formality? All I've been hearing from you is "Good day" and "Sir" or "Miss" or even "please" and "thank you". It's driving me nuts! Geez, I'm going to start to think you're a princess," Mira complains, with a demonic aura around her.

Lucy freaks out, they can't know about her identity, Miss Mira was almost right on!

"Umm… I see Miss Mira, I will try my best so I will not disappoint-"

Mira transform into a demon and interrupts a freaked out Lucy, "DON'T say "Miss Mira" or use that damn formal language!"

Lucy who is now worried about her life, bows her head, "Yes Miss… I mean yes sir… I mean… I mean…"

Erza comes to Lucy's rescue, "Stop bullying her Mirajane, you're acting like a freak as usual."

Mira twitches, "I don't want to hear that from YOU."

They get envolved in a deadly fight of life and death.

"Umm… Umm…" Lucy doesn't know how to react to this kind of behavior.

Gray sighs and pats Lucy's head, "Don't mind this messed up guild. The people here are all messed up in some way as far as I'm concerned."

"Gray, you shirt," Cana says with a smirk.

Gray looks down, "Dang it! Not again!"

Lucy blushes heavily.

Makarov sweat drops at the commotion and turns to Laxus who is angry from the fight with Mira.

"Hey Laxus, you better calm down a little, you should go take a walk…"

"Sure gramps…" he mutters angrily, but smashes the guild door in the process of leaving.

"Nooo…" moans Makarov, another couple thousand jewel out the bank.

Lucy looks around, tired, and a little awkward.

Then she lets out a smile, something that people would least expect at the moment.

"What a wonderful place," she manages to murmur before she falls back into bed, asleep.

Makarov smiles.

Natsu stares at Lucy's face, then considers what Mira said.

"Woah, it the idiot actually thinking?" mocks Gray.

Natsu doesn't seem to hear, he continues to think.

People are kind of freaked out now… Natsu is using his brain… but what's he thinking?

A light bulb goes off the top of his head, "I know! We'll call her Lucy-hime!"

(for all people that don't know, hime is pronounced hi-may. It means princess in Japanese)

Mira and Erza, stopped fighting, "Huh?" they said in unison.

"We don't know I thing about Lucy, only her first name. She uses that weird formal language so she's kind of like a princess…" Natsu explains excitedly.

Mira considers this, then gives it a thumbs up, "I like that!"

Erza blinks, then relaxes, "Can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Mira, but it's cute."

Natsu cheers, "Alright then its decided!"

Gray stares at him, "Don't you need her permit?"

Lisanna sticks her tongue out, "No, it's a nickname, like how Natsu calls you Snowflake."

"Hey!"

X.x.X

_Phew… that was a loooooooong chapter… ten pages on my word documents…_"-.-

_Do you guys like it? Or hate it? Comments! _^.^/


	2. Two Idiots and a Princess

_I__'__m__so__tired__… _=.=

Anyways, here's chapter two. Sorry for the long wait

=.=/

X.x.X

"Lucy-hime!" called Erza from her room.

Lucy's head pops out from the door, with a small towel in her hand, "Yes, Miss Scarlett? Do you need a towel?"

It was a big surprise for Lucy when they started calling her Lucy-hime, but it worked out fine in the end. She eventually grew used to it.

Erza blinks, and then leaps over, hugging Lucy, "You're so CUUUUTE!" she squeals.

Lucy is stunned for a moment, and then relaxes, "You're really kind Miss Scarlett."

Erza lets go of her, with a surprised expression on her face, hardly anyone called her "kind"… but she understood why. If someone were to call her kind, they must have went through something really bad.

Then she went back to business, "Don't call me Miss Scarlett. It was cute at first, but now since we're living with each other, its kind awkward. We got to get rid of that weird habit of yours somehow…"

"Umm… how we going to do that again, Miss Scar-, I mean Miss Erza," asked Lucy.

Silence.

"Uh… I haven't figured that out yet Lucy-hime," replied Erza awkwardly.

Then she lifts a finger, "Actually… I have one idea…"

"What is it Miss Scar-, I mean Miss Erza?" asks Lucy.

Moments Later…

Erza takes Lucy over to Gray and Natsu, who were amazingly not arguing. Instead, they were silently glaring at each other, sitting on a picnic table outside.

"Natsu, Gray, she needs your help," declares Erza.

Gray looks up, he was in the middle of stripping, "Yeah."

Natsu was too busy eating ramen with Happy.

Erza drags him over.

"Come on Erza! Let me at least finish my ramen!" wailed Natsu.

"Aye!" squeaks Happy randomly.

Erza clears her throat, "I need you two to break her habit of formal talk. Hey Lucy-hime, say hello to them."

Lucy turns to the two boys and does a little bow, "Good day Mr. Fullbuster-san and Mr. Dragneel-san."

They gawk at her and turn white.

"Yeah, you get the point, you too are the immature ones in the guild. I will drop her off here for a day and will return at night. She BETTER have some progress… or else," Erza mutters as she walks away.

Natsu starts to freak out.

Gray sighs, "We're in a whole lot of trouble…"

Lucy sweat drops, "My apologies Sir…"

"DAMN IT! STOP USING THAT FORMAL CRAP LUCY-HIME!" shouts Gray, if this were to keep up… Erza would have their heads.

"Y-Yes sir!" stammers Lucy, good grace… what is with these people…

Gray sulks in his own little corner, "Never mind…"

_Was__it__something__I__said?_Wonders Lucy.

Natsu finally calms down and stares at Lucy, "We're going to teach you how to be a Fairy Tail member."

Lucy instinctively looks down onto her hand; there was a pink Fairy Tail mark.

Natsu grins, "That's right, you'll need to be like US!"

Gray gets up, then starts lesson one, "First, you call us Gray and Natsu. No Mr. Fullbuster, or Mr. Dragneel, or Mr. Gray or any of that other crap," he says.

"O-okay," says Lucy.

"Alright then, pretend you met us on a regular day and greet us," says Natsu.

Lucy hesitates, then carefully says, "Good day… Natsu-san and Gray-san…"

Gray slaps his forehead, "You know what… good job with taking off the mister, but can you please take off the honorific "san" at the end? Oh yeah, normal people this century say "Hi" or "Good Morning".

Natsu is slurping on another bowl of ramen, "I think she improved."

Gray grunts, why is he stuck with an idiot and a person who can't say a normal Hi?

Lucy bows her head, "My apologies… I have been taught to say it like this… or… well… I believe it's just a habit now…"

Gray is now even more curious about whom she is, maybe she really is a princess.

He tries another approach, "Maybe… try out a different suffix?"

Lucy thinks about it, "Are we friends Dragneel-san and Fullbuster-san?" (LOL, Lucy went back to saying the last names)

Gray and Natsu are surprised by the question.

"Well… we only met each other a week ago…" answers Gray carefully.

"We're best friends, Luce-hime!" interrupts Natsu, grinning.

_Luce-hime?_Wonders Lucy, _Is__that__a__nickname?__We__were__forbidden__to__make__up__nicknames__at__the__mansion__…_

"Yeah, I guess we're friends," shrugs Gray.

"Good morning Gray-kun, Natsu-kun!" chirps Lucy innocently.

Gray, not expecting the sudden change or the "kun", blushes deeply and turns in the other direction.

Natsu doesn't see any problem and just gives her a pat on the head, "Great job, Lucy-hime!"

Lucy lets out a smile, finally…

"See Gray! She did it… Gray?" Natsu inspected Gray, who was sitting in a corner, his face all red.

Since Natsu has a messed up mind, he jumps to one conclusion…

"HA! I bet you ate the hot sauce I put on the table! You're so stupid Gray! Bet you couldn't take the heat!" teases Natsu.

Gray immediately gets out of his ""embarrassed" mode and glares at Natsu, "I AM NOT STUPID ENOUGH TO DO THAT!"

"Then why is your face all red?" asked Natsu.

"The reason is because it's 85 degrees outside," answers Lucy, interrupting their fight.

They stare at her.

Lucy points to a thermometer that popped out of nowhere. It really was 85 degrees.

Gray lets out a sigh, well; Erza was right about her being an airhead the other day.

Natsu blinks, "Hmm… but I still think he ate the hot sauce…"

Gray scoffs, "Go check the hot sauce bottle, did I even touch it?"

Happy brings it over, and opens it.

Natsu peers in, "Yes you did! It's half empty!"

"That's cause you ate half of it you idiot!"

"…Oh…"

"Wow, maybe you're head really is filled with nothing but smoke…" scoffs Gray.

"Says the person who eats ice cream every day!" muttered Natsu.

"You eat fire! That's not normal!"

"It's completely normal you idiot!"

"I don't want to be called can idiot by you!"

Lucy stares at them, then decides she needs summon one of her spirits.

"Gate of the winged horse, I summon thee, Pegasus!" she says.

A flash of golden light appears and Lucy's magic symbol too. Then a magnificent winged horse flies out, into the room.

That catches Natsu and Gray's attention.

"Woah! I flying pig!" exclaims Natsu, drooling.

Gray falls over, it was a winged horse for god's sake, and how in the world was it related to a pig?

Pegasus, unfortunately, can understand humans, was seriously offended.

It grunts and charges at Natsu.

Natsu gets run over by a horse, and it doesn't look pretty.

"Pegasus!" cries Lucy in dismay, "Dragneel-san didn't mean it!" (she switched back to formalities again =.=)

Gray looks away, snickering; _uh__yes__he__did__mean__it._

Pegasus snorts and flicks its tail.

"You must go heal Dragneel-san!" says Lucy in her serious tone.

Pegasus hesitates, but goes over and flaps its wings.

"Woah! Watch the head!" cries Gray as he stumbles out of the way.

Some of its feathers fall onto Natsu and it immediately heals his wounds. Pegasus only does that much and walks away, not happy.

"Awesome…" breathes Gray.

"Indeed, Pegasus is a battler and a healer!" boasts Lucy, proud.

"Ow…" groans Natsu as he gets up.

Pegasus grunts, then goes back to Lucy, who stokes his head.

"Why'd you summon him anyway?" asks Gray.

"You and Dragneel-san were fighting again. I believe that fighting isn't as fun as bonding with one's spirits," explains Lucy, brushing her fingers through Pegasus' hair.

Gray stares at Lucy for a sec, then looks at Pegasus in awe. He had a sparkling white coat and mane with blue eyes that shone as bright as… well, stars.

"Can I touch him?" asks Gray.

"My pleasure! But try not to pull his tail, he dislikes it," says Lucy, stepping aside.

Gray hesitates, then places his hand on Pegasus' forehead, it muzzles his hand.

Lucy giggles, "He likes you!"

Gray blushes a little, then patted Pegasus' mane. It was so silky.

"What was the fun thing you wanted to do?" asked Gray.

Lucy laughed, "To ride him of course!"

Gray considers this, the sticks his tongue out teasingly, "I'll let the idiot ride it too, but only if you start calling us by our first names."

Lucy blinks, then grins, "My pleasure, Gray-san!"

Gray looks away, guess it's too much to ask of her to call him Gray-kun again…

Natsu jumps up, "So we can ride the flying pi… I mean Pegasus! Really?"

Lucy nods, "It was my invitation."

"AWESOME LUCE-HIME! You're the best!" exclaims Natsu, climbing aboard.

Pegasus bucks and Natsu almost gets thrown off.

"Pegasus!" scolds Lucy, "I told you Natsu didn't mean anything!"

Pegasus just snorts.

"Lucy-hime, come on!" calls Gray who is already on board.

"Yes Gray-san!" she replies as Pegasus sits down for her to climb on in the front.

"Hey, why did he do that for me or Gray?" asks Natsu.

"I… think she's a bit unfamiliar with you Natsu-san…" says Lucy.

"Oh…"

"Don't forget you called him a pig either!" reminds Gray.

"…"

"Pegasus! Fly!" declares Lucy.

Pegasus kicks up some grass, flaps its wings, and soars into the sky.

"Yahoo!" shouts Natsu, "This is awesome!"

"Can't believe I'm actually agreeing with the idiot!" says Gray.

Lucy smiles, and then whispers something in Pegasus' ear.

It takes only a brief second for Pegasus to switch gears. He kicks up some "stardust" and charges into the sky.

"What's he doing?" asks Natsu.

"You'll see," Lucy says simply.

Finally, Pegasus stops and lands on a cloud.

"Cool! It can walk on clouds?" Natsu asks in amazement.

"Yes, because Pegasus is a spirit of the heavens and since he's the winged horse, he can do this, but this is only for Pegasus. If we step on the cloud-."

Before Lucy can finish, Natsu jumps off, thinking he can step on a cloud too, but…

"WAH!" he screams as he falls through.

"Natsu-san!" gasps Lucy.

"Natsu! You idiot!" cries Gray.

Pegasus rears up and flies downward at amazing speed.

Lucy's hair is flying all over the place, same with Gray's.

Gray needs to hold on tight to Lucy so he doesn't fly off. How the hell did it turn out like this?

"Can we make it?" he shouts over the wind.

"We must! Otherwise…" Lucy trails off, if they don't, she'd never forgive herself… ever. This was her idea and it has gone horribly wrong.

Then, they see where they're going to crash.

There was a lake, but it was lined with huge, jagged rocks.

"NATSU-SAN!" screams Lucy, it was clear that Pegasus wouldn't be able to make it. She tried reaching out to him.

"LUCY-HIME!" screams Natsu back, trying to catch her hand.

Gray racks his brain, then he thinks of something, but he isn't sure it'll work.

"Ice make, net!" he shouts, he's never tried molding it into a net before, but it wasn't the time to think.

It worked… for about 5 seconds.

Natsu freaks out when he sees the net and thinks Gray is trying to kill him, he deflects it with his own fire magic.

Too late.

"Damn it!" screeched Gray, what was the idiot doing?

It was all too late, Lucy could see they were only a couple meters off the ground.

That's when it hits her.

Water!

But there was no time left to summon her.

"Aquarius!" she screams out, _please__…_

A bright flash of blue appears, but now Natsu is only a couple feet from the water.

"Pegasus, please!" cries Lucy.

Pegasus gives out one final heave and collides into the light.

Explosion.

A burst of white light and sound travels through Magnolia.

Nearly everyone turns their heads to the sound.

Erza looks up, this can't be good… She runs to the lake where the sound came from.

*At the lake*

The light finally clears.

Lucy opens her eyes slowly, she isn't hurt, but she's trembling.

"Lucy, are you okay?" says a familiar voice.

Lucy's eyes are wide open now, "Aquarius-nee?"

Sure enough, Aquarius is holding Lucy in her arms. She looks completely healed from the last time she saw Lucy.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" asks Aquarius.

"Yes, thank you for your concern… Wait! What about Gray-san and Natsu-san!" Lucy looks around frantically.

Aquarius is confused for a second, and then understands, "Oh, you mean the two boys? Yeah, Pegasus caught the one with the scarf. The one without the shirt…"

She looks to the right, and Lucy does too.

Gray is in the water, drenched and kind of stunned.

Aquarius sets Lucy down and Lucy runs to him.

"Gray-san! Are you alright?" asks Lucy.

Gray doesn't reply, causing Lucy to freak out.

"I-I am so sorry! The result of today is all my fault! I apologize deeply Fullbuster-san-"

Before Lucy could finish, Gray pats her head, he had a tired smile on his face.

"As long as you don't call me Fullbuster-san, everything is fine," he says tiredly.

Aquarius watched the two laugh and smiles herself, Lucy had finally found a home.

She goes over to them, and looks at Gray, "Your name is Gray right?"

Gray looks up, "Huh, yeah."

Aquarius crosses her hands over her chest, "Listen, when Pegasus lunged for the other boy over there, you two flew off in separate directions. I could only catch one of you, at the moment, but I made sure you didn't land into one of the boulders. So it wasn't Lucy's fault."

Gray blinks, "I know it isn't her fault. It's the idiot's fault."

"Are you referring to the other boy?"

"Who else?"

Lucy grins, "Everyone is safe, thank goodness…" Then she wobbles and falls down.

Aquarius manages to catch her before she lands into the water.

"What's wrong with Lucy?" asks Gray, suddenly concerned.

Aquarius sighs, "Celestial wizards normally can only summon one spirit at a time. Summoning two can potentially kill them. Even for a powerful celestial wizard, summoning two at the same time is rough."

Gray looks at her, understanding now, "So that's why you didn't summon yourself when we were about to crash. Lucy could of…"

"Exactly, which is the reason I must go now," says Aquarius, handing Lucy over the Gray.

Gray struggled a little, but steadied himself.

Aquarius becomes surrounded in golden light again like the other day, "Take care if her Gray Fullbuster."

Gray just nods as Aquarius disappears.

Then he felt something touch his arm.

It was Pegasus with Natsu on his back.

"Hey… Can you carry us back?" asked Gray.

Pegasus just nodded and sat down for his to climb on with Lucy.

Then, disaster strikes.

"What in the WORLD happened!" screeched an all too familiar voice.

"Ah… crap," mutters Gray as he turns around to face Erza.

"I see Lucy's tired spirit here, Natsu injured and Lucy knocked out, and you standing next to them. A bunch of boulders are blown up, do you know what this looks like Gray?" asks Erza, trying to control herself. How the hell could they think of battling each other?

"Listen, its not what you think…" Gray starts to say.

"Then what!" cries Erza.

Then Gray starts the long story of Lucy who couldn't say a normal hi and Natsu who thought he ate the hot sauce. Then how Lucy summoned Pegasus to have some fun which turned into disaster when Natsu jumped off on purpose and they had to try to save his life.

Erza blinks once.

Gray blinks back.

Erza blinks again.

Gray blinks back.

Blink

Blink

Blink

Blin- "Hey what are you doing?"

"Trying to test how stupid you guys are…" replies Erza casually.

"Hey!"

"What on earth were you guys thinking? I guess its partially Lucy's fault for inviting you guys, but there is a LIMIT to stupidity!" Erza shouted.

"Well it's all that idiot's fault," muttered Gray.

Erza grunted then picked up Lucy, "Lucy-hime, you are one trouble maker…"

Gray snorted, "Natsu-teme, you are one idiot…"

"You're the idiot," muttered Natsu in his sleep.

Gray just laughed, "Baka." Then he swung Natsu over his shoulder and went back to the dorms.

X.x.X

_This chapter really isn't my fav… but I hope that you enjoyed reading this and that this wasn't too boring. I am probably going to do a time skip sometime soon, or maybe not. I am still deciding._


	3. Time Skip and Juvia

_Thanks for all the reviews guys, I am sooooooo sorry for not updating, I lost my mojo for a while, but now I am back! I hope you like this chapter!_

^.^/

X.x.X

* * *

><p>Lucy was now twelve, five years have passed since she joined Fairy Tail.<p>

She combed her hair and put it into an elegant bun, her two long bangs framed her face.

She stared at herself, somewhat sad. She touched her bun gently, even though Fairy Tail is her home, she can't lose the part of herself that is a heiress. Her eyes narrowed slightly, why did she insist on dressing so formally all the time.

"Yo! Lucy-hime!"

Lucy turned around and saw Erza waving her sword around casually.

"Erza-san! Good day to you too!" Lucy smiled.

Erza's sword flew out of her hand, destroying a lamp in the process. Lucy almost jumped.

Erza sulked, facing a wall, "Five years… still with this formal crap… how is this possible…" she muttered.

Lucy sighed awkwardly, yeah, formality was part of her personality… her gaze darkened a little. Lucy could not forget about her father, his raged face, yelling at her. If she left home a little later, she might be more brave and act like her casual friends.

How she envied them, being able to talk without worry. When they were seven, Gray and Natsu tried to get her to talk casually. Every time she talked casually, she imagined her father's angry face. She hid her fear with a smile, and she never could speak so casually again.

Well that was enough of that, today, Lucy was bent on becoming informal! She pumped her fist into the air and changed from her formal dress, into a set of clothes that Erza had given her. Now she needed to change her speech…

"Lucy-hime, you want to come with me on a mission?"

Lucy blinked, huh? She saw Erza smiling that signature confident smile of hers, "How about it Lucy-hime? Of course, the two idiots would be coming as well."

Lucy knew that the two idiots Erza were referring to were Natsu and Gray.

She grinned, missions were the only thing that got her fired up, the tougher the better, "Let's go then!"

She prepared to run out the door, only to be stopped by Erza.

_Swoosh._

Erza pulled out the ribbon that held her bun and Lucy's blonde hair cascaded down her back all the way to her waist. She wanted long hair like Erza-san, so she grew it out. Her father never let her grow it past shoulder length, saying it made her look like a common girl. At least it made her rebel against her father in a way.

Erza smiled, "No need to look like you're going to a ball right Lucy?"

Lucy was stunned, then returned the smile, "Hai!"

She ran out the door with her hair swishing back and forth. Erza looked at the girl then laughed, who knew Lucy loved tough missions so much. She didn't look like the type at first.

Erza closed the door, then walked out, arms crossed.

_At the Guild:_

"Laxus-sama!" Lucy cried out as she leapt into the guild through an open window. Yup, you heard it, Lucy jumped through a window. Even though her appearance was formal most of the time, her actions were no longer formal. She loved the feeling of being free, like a bird freed from a cage.

Laxus turned her head lazily, "Oh, it's you princess." Lucy grinned. He patted her head as if he was petting a dog.

Their friendship was the most surprising and least expected. It started when Lucy started following him around like a puppy. No one could figure out why, until Lucy spilled it. Turns out she thought that his head phones were cool, and wanted to touch them because she had never seen a pair of headphones in her life. Laxus let her, not really thinking about it, then demanded her to call him Laxus-sama because he was sooooooo gracious. Lucy did that exactly, taking it seriously. Laxus found the little girl interesting, no, he was not romantically interested, more like he found her kind of funny. And poof, friendship is born. Though it was more like the relationship between a puppy and her owner.

Lucy liked to sit on Laxus' lap because according to her, it was fun to see his different "expressions". Well, the guild was like WTF because the only expression they ever saw Laxus give was something like this an old man's scowl.

Lucy was twelve now, so she tried to act more mature, but she couldn't help it. She often sat on his shoulders rather than his lap now.

"Hiya Lucy-hime!" Mira called, waving her hand. Lucy looked up, then brightened, "Mira-san!"

Mira picked her up, "Hmm… you're wearing casual clothes again!"

Lucy nodded excitedly, yup, she was trying her best. Today, she wore what Erza had given her for her birthday which consisted of a sleeveless baby pink dress, and a short, unbuttoned, denim vest. Nothing fancy really.

Mira squinted at Lucy, "Oh yeah, I've been telling you to call me Mira-nee, not Mira-san. Hell with the formalities!"

Laxus looked up, smirking, "Seriously Mirajane? Mira-NEE? Come on, like your feminine in any way besides your breasts…"

Mira blushed and gave him the devil's glare, "What did you just say?"

Laxus was about to repeat himself, "I was saying that your're not…."

WHAM!

Mira's heel exchanged an unfriendly greeting with Laxus' chin and Laxus was sent flying backwards.

Mira's face was still red, and prepared to beat the crap out of Laxus.

Lucy sighed, seriously, boys could be seriously lack some common sense at times. You don't talk about a woman's… you know… especially when they were in the stage of development.

Lucy laughed at Mira and Laxus, something she would have never done five years ago. In many ways, she had grown accustomed to Fairy Tail's ways of life. She loved their wildness. She was just cursed with formal talk for now.

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu waved at her, with Happy by his side.

"Natsu-san!" Lucy ran over, ignoring the fight going on in the background.

"Luuuucy, you're wearing casual clothes for once!" Happy said while settling himself on Lucy's shoulder.

"Yup! They are really comfortable too!" Lucy said, twirling around.

Someone started laughing from above, when they looked up, they saw Gray sliding down a column.

"Well duh Lucy-hime, it's called casual for a reason," Gray poked her in the middle of her forehead, causing Lucy to stiffen.

"That hurt!"

"I kind of figured that out five years ago," Gray teased.

Natsu suddenly looked at Laxus and Mira fighting, as if noticing it for the first time, "Say, what are they fighting about?"

Lucy turned her head to the fighting, "Laxus teased Mira about her being a woman and her breasts…"

Natsu cocked his head, "Huh?"

Gray started to laugh, "Well of course Laxus was say that! By the way Lucy-hime…" He squinted at her chest, and poked it with his index finger, "Honestly, are you going to be flat as a board forever? God Lucy-hime, you're TWELVE, and your still-"

Erza slammed her fist into Gray's forehead, emitting a deadly aura, "WHAT WAS THAT GRAY?"

Gray froze, "I swear! I didn't do anything!"

KABOOM!

Erza threw her axe at him, which hit him square in the noggin.

"Perverts…" she muttered. Then she hugged Lucy protectively, who was blushing like mad, "Don't worry about it Lucy, your fine just the way you are." Erza said sweetly. Honestly, she wished Lucy would never grow up, she wanted her to stay cute and small forever.

Natsu was still confused, "Huh?"

"You can at least pretend you know what's going on Natsu."

Natsu grinned, "Well… I know that Gray was beat up by you!"

"…"

Lucy decided to change the subject, she turned to Erza, "What was it about the mission you said that we would go on?"

Erza brightened immediately, "Right! See here, it is for defeating this demon!"

Lucy stared at the "demon", it looked like a kid had drawn it with a purple crayon. It looked like the rest was scribbled out with a sharpie. The reward was jewel… okay now this was just getting stupid.

Lucy scratched her head, "Are you sure Erza? I mean… it doesn't look too official."

Erza stared at it, "It looks official to me, how about you Natsu?"

Natsu nodded in agreement, "Yup."

Lucy had to prevent herself from slapping her forehead, seriously?

"Gray-san… does this look official to you?" Lucy suddenly turned to her knocked out team mate.

"What?" he looked up, still dizzy, "Sure."

Lucy gaped, god… they were all blind!

Erza stared at the huge amount of money, "Now even a princess has to admit, that is a lot of money."

Natsu nodded, "No kidding."

Lucy lifted Gray up, "Gray, look carefully. Does that look right to you?"

Gray squinted, still dizzy, "Looks right to me. Woah… that's a lot of jewels…"

Lucy gave up, she dropped Gray onto the floor and then went to the job board.

Erza poked her head out from behind Lucy, "Hey, we already got a mission. What are you looking for?"

"A different mission," Lucy answered simply.

Erza gasped like it was the most outrageous thing she had ever heard, "Why would you do that? Look at the money!"

Lucy couldn't bear it anymore, "If we go on that mission we're going to get killed because it is obviously a fraud! Then we'll get cooked for dinner, kidnapped, and we're going to waste our time, and…"

Natsu patted Lucy's head, and smiled, "Don't worry Luce-hime, even if we do get attacked, you still has me to protect you!"

Lucy had a habit of freaking out really easily when she was pressured, patting her head was the only way to calm her down. Except, Lucy only lets people she is close with pat her head, if you pat her head otherwise, she freaks out even more.

Lucy looked up at Natsu, cheeks a little red, "… Okay then…" she finally gave in.

Natsu shot her a thumbs up.

Erza turned her back to the two, holding her mouth with her hand, this was waaaaay too cute. Actually, she had hoped for Lisanna and Natsu to be a couple, but now since Lucy-hime came… well let's just say Lisanna has some competition now. But there's Gray too… Erza suddenly started to feel pissed, she didn't want to give Lucy-hime to any of those idiots.

Gray, now fully awake and recovered, looked at Erza, "So what are we waiting for? Let's go on this mission!"

"Yeah!" Lucy and Natsu excitedly spoke in unison, but Lucy more warily.

Erza smirked, "Of course."

_Moments Later on a train…_

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?"

Erza punched Gray, "Calm down will you? Geez, what's with you shouting all of a sudden?"

Gray pointed accusingly at the job paper, "You call THIS, a formal request? Hell, these are just some pranksters ready to prank us!"

People who were on the train were looking in their direction now, Erza punched him again, "I SAID CALM DOWN!"

Gray rubbed his mouth, "That hurt…" he muttered.

Natsu, who was sitting next to Erza, looked confused, "I agree with Erza, this looks pretty trustworthy."

Lucy sighed and pulled Gray over into a whispering discussion, "Gray-san, this is what I was trying to tell you!"

"I was still half unconscious that time!" Gray complained, "You can't expect me to see things clearly."

Lucy sighed, "But we're already on this train, and I doubt Erza would let us go back…"

As if to prove her point, Erza was glaring daggers at Gray, literally. She had swords ready.

Lucy pulled him back into her discussion, "So let's just get there, bust the punks, and be done with it."

Gray looked irritated for a moment, then just nodded, "I guess… hey… wait a minute…"

He grinned, "Did you just say 'bust the punks' Lucy?"

Lucy blushed , "I am trying not to be formal you know? Geez, don't discourage me when I have just started!"

"My bad, my bad," Gray was thoroughly amused now.

Lucy muttered something not very nice under her breath and turned to Erza, "Let's just get to that place then."

Erza relaxed, "So we're all in favor now right?"

Gray shrugged, "Whatever."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Natsu was eating a drumstick when he jumped, "There's something moving in my backpack!"

"Eh?" Lucy cried, what was it this time.

"Lemme see…" Erza swiped Natsu's backpack away, and sure enough, it was moving.

"What in the world?" Gray peered at it.

Erza unzipped the bag slowly. Lucy had already hid herself behind Gray.

"AYE!"

Huh?

"Happy?" Natsu exclaimed, astonished, "How did you end up in there?"

Lucy nearly fainted in relief… thank goodness it was just Happy.

Happy pouted, "I slept in there, you kicked me off the bed! Now I wake up and we're on a train!"

Gray laughed, "Well that just shows us how poor you much of an animal Natsu is…"

Natsu didn't see that as an insult, but he felt it was so he glared at Gray, "Whatcha say ice block?"

Gray smirked, "Want me to repeat what I said, doofus?"

"Why you-"

"GRAY, NATSU, GET ALONG," Erza and Lucy growled at the same time. Lucy was Erza and Mirajane's little follower and was trying her best to act like her, much to the dismay of the others. She picked up a few habits from them, including getting irritated whenever they fought.

"Yes ma'am" they squeaked, frozen.

Happy clucked his tongue, "Yeesh, Lucy-hime, you are more like Lucy-ogre…"

Erza kicked Happy in the face and cuddled Lucy, "Don't listen to that blue cat. You are a cute little princess. Lucy could only nod with wide eyes.

Gray heard something splatter on the window, he turned around to see the sky turn gray and start to rain.

A waitress with blue hair came up to them, her eyes hidden under her blue bangs. She seemed about the same age as them and even though they were indoors, she was carrying a mushroom shaped pink umbrella.

"Would you three like to get anything?"

Gray and Natsu shook their heads, they had already eaten. Natsu was still eating. Erza shrugged, "Thank you, but I am not hungry."

Happy raised his paw, "Aye, I want fish!"

Lucy smiled shyly and said, "I would like some water please."

The waitress was silent.

The team felt awkward, "Um… do you not have water?" Lucy asked softly, "If you don't, I don't really-"

"Not have water?" the waitress echoed. Lucy immediately stopped talking, kind of freaked out. Happy hid behind Lucy.

She lifted her head up, her eyes were cold and empty, unforgiving.

"Juvia is never without water," Juvia spoke eerily. Even Gray and Natsu flinched. Erza stiffened. Lucy only watched, wide eyed and unsure.

Juvia lifted her hand and pointed at the team, "Water lock," she spoke softly. Erza realized what she was going to do, but was too late.

"WATCH OUT! She's going too-"

Erza never got to finish her sentence, the last thing the team saw was water.

Whoosh.

The sound of rain splattered against the window, the train came alive with magicians, none who looked kind.

Juvia set her gaze on Lucy, "No one escapes Juvia's water lock."

"No one escapes Phantom."

* * *

><p>X.x.X<p>

_Sorry if this chapter was kind of short, and sorry for the cliffhanger. But I really wanted an ending like this :P I will update this time, and soon! Thanx for the support!_


	4. Our Weakness are Another's Strength

_Sorry for the late update guys, I was a bit busy, but now I am fine! Thanks for the long wait!_

^.^/

X.x.X

_Lucy's P.O.V._

Where am I?

Slowly Lucy opened her eyes, her vision was somewhat blurry and took a while to refocus. She tried to rub her eyes, but realized that she couldn't.

Someone had tied her hands to her back. For a second, her mind started to panic. She found out that her legs weren't tied and immediately tried to get up.

The sudden movement made her stomach queasy, which launched her into a coughing and chocking fit. For a moment, she wondered why she was coughing up so much water. Then, she remembered what happened. That waitress… no the girl who pretended to be a waitress, she remembered… she remembered…

Lucy's eyes flashed opened, that girl had launched a water attack on her. That girl was a mage! She struggled to her knees and shook the dizziness away from her head. She felt horrible, and the fact that her clothes were soaked didn't help her situation.

"E-Erza… Gray… Natsu?"

Lucy looked around after her team mates had not answered her calls. She then realized that they were not anywhere around her. Lucy straightened up from the shock. She was locked within a small space, surrounded by cement walls. She couldn't even see a door, even the ground was just pure… well cement.

Then she remembered her keys. Right, she could call Sirius! But when she reached for her pocket, she found nothing. They must have taken her keys.

Lucy struggled to make sense of all this. What happened to her team mates? How did they get her into this room? Where were her keys? Why did that water girl attack them? When did she get here?

She managed to stumble to her feet, so that she was standing up. Panicking was not the answer, she had to get out. She must get out. If they had put her into this room, then she could get out.

She investigated her surroundings, but could not find a single crack. She started touching the walls, feeling around, well at least as best as one with her hands tied behind her back could do. Lucy looked around for any hidden buttons or levers that could open this place or reveal some secret tunnels.

After about an hour, or at least after Lucy was sure that she had touching every inch of her surroundings, she slid to the ground.

She thought deeply about what her team mates would do. Her three team mates was always the best in these kinds of situations.

_Natsu, Gray, Erza… what would you do? _Her eyes closed, pondering. Then, she started to laugh.

Of course, the answer was obvious.

Lucy summoned her celestial power and smashed herself into the wall.

. . . . . . . . . .

_Erza's P.O.V._

The red haired warrior paced around the room, muttering curses under her breath. She was trapped in a wall of wind. No matter what she did, she just couldn't penetrate the wall. All the weapons she used were flung aside. The power of her requips were thrown aside. If she tried using her hands or feet, the wind would act as a blade and injure them.

The wind traveled around Erza so fast that all she saw was a white blur, it was impossible to see outside of it.

She groaned and fiddled with the steel chains that were next to her. When she had woken up, she found her hands tied by handcuffs and her feet tied together likewise by steel chains. Those were easy enough to deal with, just a few requips and a bit of weaponry, and she was free.

She looked around, there was not another idea that would work. Although Erza knew it was useless, she summoned another lightening spear. She prepared to strike.

Then she launched her power.

Blue lightening shot from her spear at the wind spinning around her, hoping to break it down with sheer strength.

For a moment, it seemed to be countering it, but then the wind overpowered it and the lightening disappeared. Erza stumbled back from the unexpected disappearance.

Erza let out a shout of frustration and flung the steel chains at the wall of wind.

Sparks started to flare around the chains, then the wind shredded it to… well specks.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN IT!" she screamed.

She needed to save her team mates! She needed to protect Lucy-hime. She needed to beat up Natsu and Gray for being idiots. She needed to find them…

She started to cry, she hated being alone like this. It was too painful, it reminded her of her slave days.

How pitiful she was acting right now. Erza knew it. She wiped her tears away, that's it, no time for crying. Break time was over.

She stared at the wall of wind towering over her. It was obvious that strength wouldn't let her overcome this obstacle. She needed time to think.

Erza calmed her racing heart and mind down, closing her eyes, she fell into a void of deep thought.

Lucy-hime was best in these situations, she knew what to do. She always was observant and thinking, never did she allow herself to lose her mind or consciousness. That's right Erza… think like Lucy.

She opened her eyes, a look of boldness replaced her tears from before.

"That's it," Erza said slowly, "Thank you Lucy-hime…"

She requiped and lunged at the ground.

. . . . . . . . . .

_Gray's P.O.V._

Ah… this just sucked.

He awoke to find himself surrounded by fire. The red flames danced around him, as if taunting him.

For a moment, he admitted that he thought if this was Natsu's doing, but he saw the flames turn blue, then purple, then yellow, he quickly abandoned his thoughts.

He sat up. Geez, this heat was really getting to him, he felt sweat trickle down his cheek.

"Hey Natsu, care to extinguish the flames?"

Only silence answered his question. He turned around, ready to the beat up the idiot.

He looked around, huh? No one was here, no one…

He broke the ropes tying his hands with relative ease. He massaged his wrists, looks like whoever attacked them had been smart enough to separate them.

Oh yeah, the girl with the umbrella had launched that freak attack on them. Water lock… he think that's what she said at least.

He shook his head, he shouldn't let such things occupy his thoughts right now.

Gray focused on the wall of fire upon him and put his arms out in front of him. It was easy enough to stop him from overheating.

"Ice make, dome!"

And with that, a dome of ice surrounded him. Gray felt instant relief, great, now time to think…

Splitter.

Splatter.

Splash.

Huh?

Gray looked up, and his jaw dropped. Now way.

His ice was melting!

"What the hell?" he nearly shouted. His ice… it couldn't be melted. Even Natsu's dragon slayer fire couldn't melt it.

His mind raced, he panicked as he watched his ice dome dissolve slowly into nothing.

Water wasn't even left on the floor, it was evaporated by the heat of the flames.

Gray could feel the heat getting to him, he needed to cool down, fast. He created ice shields, domes, houses, anything you can imagine, but nothing worked for long.

By now, gray was red from the heat and was sweating. He had to take on this wall of fire before he became overheated. But now that he thought about it, he wondered how long he had been in this wall of flame, cause he would have died if he were in here longer than an hour or two.

He launched a variety of ice attacks, all which had melted when it met the flame.

Gray felt his vision begin to blur and breathing became more labored.

He fell onto one knee, panting, he started to hallucinate.

Gray thought he saw a glass of water. As he reached for it, it disappeared.

He needed to think of an idea fast, before he started to loose his mind.

If he were Natsu, he'd eat the flames, but that wasn't possible. If he were Erza, he'd summon a water hose or requip into water armor and extinguish the flames, but that wasn't possible. If he were Lucy…

Gray paused for a moment, then smirked, bingo.

He opened his arms out in front of him, "Ice make, blizzard!"

. . . . . . . . . .

_Natsu's P.O.V._

_Bleh, the water tasted nasty…_ he thought.

Water?

HEY!

Natsu's eyes flashed open, where was that water girl? _Lemme at her!_

_Urgh… why are my hands and legs stuck?_ Natsu looked down, oh…

They were tied with ropes.

He rolled around with a moment, dang it! Let me free!

Wait a second… Natsu paused, then he had a light bulb moment.

He summoned his magical energy and his hands and feet were lit up with flames, burning the ropes to ashes.

"ALRIGHT! No one can hold ME back!" He leapt into the hair, pumped.

He was dancing around for about five minutes when he realized that his team mates were not there.

"Eh? Lucy-hime? Gray? Erza?" he called. Looks like there is no one… wait a minute.

He felt something on top of his head, he took it off.

"HAPPY?" he nearly shouted. Wow, he had completely forgotten about him.

"Lemme have another minute…" the blue cat meowed sleepily as he drifted back to sleep. Natsu sighed, great. He was surrounded with water and a blue cat. He had enough of blue things.

He began to walk to the water, "Let's go Ha-"

Natsu was knocked backwards much to his surprise. He blinked, eh?

Then he collided into the ground, barely managing to protect Happy.

"Owowowowow…" he groaned. That water was spinning a lot faster than it looked. His arms was already red, that water felt like… like… the blade of a knife.

He stared intently at his surroundings, if only he was older… being twelve really does put a lot of odds against you.

He let focused his power into his fist and went for the water. Even he knew that water and fire don't mix, but he had to try.

First he felt an intense pain that traveled throughout his arm, then he saw steam. Lastly, he felt his body flip over and landed with a thud that rattled his skull. He stood up as if nothing had happened, nothing like a challenge to get him fired up.

He grinned, ignoring his injured arm. He launched a complex set of attacks, a spinning flame, an upwards punch, and many more.

Finally, he stopped, trying to catch his breath, panting like a dog. He wiped his mouth with his now severely blistered and cut up arms. It didn't matter how much power he needed, all he needed to do was break through this water prison.

He was about to body slam the prison, when Lucy-hime's face popped into his head. She had a face that looked like she was scolding him, like when he refused to eat his vegetables.

Eh?

He paused, then let out a laugh. Of course, Lucy would always scold him when he overexerted himself. She would always give him what seemed like a more sensible answer.

Hey, wait a second. A more sensible answer?

"That's it!" he shouted with glee. He concentrated his magic so that it flowed throughout his entire body.

"Time to make some steam."

. . . . . . . . . .

Four people were gathered around in a circle, a blue haired girl, a boy with bandages around his eyes, a French weird looking boy, and a black and white haired boy.

They were all grinning except for the emotionless blue haired girl.

"That's bound to get rid of them for sure."

"Of course, we're using all their weaknesses against them."

The French looking boy spun around, "Oh oh oh, but I have set out various traps for each of them."

The blue haired girl turned around, "Always trying to win Phantom's favor?"

"No no no, how would I Lady Juvia? It tis all for the sake of thee Elemental Four and Phantom Lord."

Smirking, the black and white haired boy clenched his fists, setting it aflame, "It better be."

The guy with the bandaged eyes started to cry, "Oh oh oh, how sad!"

The blue haired girl turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"Our prisoners, they have escaped!"

"No no no, it tis all fine, they won't make it far! I had set thee traps!"

"Baka! That does not matter! Lucy Heartfilia has stellar blood within her, and she's the only one that matters! As long as her power is awakened, we are doomed for failure!"

X.x.X

_Sorry for the late update, and so sorry for the cliff hangers! I seem to have a liking for them :P_

_Comments! ^.^/_


	5. To my Readers

To all my Readers:

I am extremely sorry for not updating these few months, but I have my reasons. I won't go into details, but my mother had discovered tumors near her heart and had just recently recovered. My dad needs to work to support my sister for her college, so most of my time was spent on looking after my mom and younger brother. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I hope you would all understand.

My mother is alright now and I can finally go back to updating

See you soon!~

^.^/)


	6. I'll Call You Luce, You'll Call Me Natsu

_Because I'm a bad author, I make my readers suffer as they wait for my next update. I'm so sorry, I don't deserve all the motivation you guys give me, *bows*. A lot of people are waiting for me to update this, but it was troubling thinking of a plotline that won't be too predictable… it still is pretty predictable =.=_

_Super long wait for this chappy… Yeah, just finished up my finals, and then I got sick with something =.= I'm just glad I didn't get sick during finals week cause a lot of my friends did. Blech, finals is not fun… _

_Oh yeah, for all you NaLu fans out there, you're going to love this chapter ;)_

_Disclaimer: Trust me, I don't own Fairy Tail._

X.x.X

_Lucy's P.O.V._

Lucy summoned the magical forces that existed within her to build up enough power. Stellar magic was something special on its own. Although most people don't think about it this way, stellar mages have the power of the heavens and the stars. Well, at least Lucy liked to think of it that way.

She braced herself to slam into the walls. She felt the magic stirring within her, such a nostalgic feeling… it reminded her of the embrace that her team mates gave her when she was scared. For a while, Lucy wondered why Stellar magic was always this comforting to her. It was only after she joined Fairy Tail that she realized why her magic always felt so healing.

It was because whenever she used her magic, she knew that her spirits were right by here side, protecting and fighting with her every step of the way.

Lucy took a hesitant step forward, but then let out a piercing screech and charged at the stone walls. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

That was the first time in her life Lucy had acted rashly. She couldn't give a correct explanation to how it felt. It was like doing something you knew was stupid, but doing it anyway. It made her feel exhilarated, maybe that's why Natsu-san and Gray-san were always acting like idiots.

Her eyes opened in shock, _eh…? Why was there no impact? _She watched the walls around her immediately dissolve as it came in contact with her stellar magic. _Strange… I thought it would have been harder than this…_

Her victorious moment was short lived when her face had an unexpected greeting with the ground. She had forgotten her hands were tied by ropes, so she had literally thrown herself at the wall without thinking of what would happen to her when she tried to land.

Her shriek was cut short as she smashed into the ground. Thankfully, it didn't hurt too badly. With much effort, she to roll on her side and lift herself off the ground. She stumbled to her feet without much effort. The entire right side of her face felt somewhat raw. She laughed nervously, _gee, when had she become so rash?_

Lucy twisted her neck around so she could see her tied up hands, _I need to find a way to free myself._

And that's where her new problem begins. It wasn't like her stellar magic could just go ZAP and free her hands, she wasn't exactly like her fellow team mates. Stellar magic was more of a purifying kind of energy, it wasn't meant for offense. Honestly, Lucy was not sure how she managed to go through the wall so easily. She had planned on body-slamming herself into the wall until she could knock it down somehow. Lucy had planned on using her stellar magic as a shield to protect her body from too much harm. She couldn't do much damage with stellar magic alone, which is why she had spirits instead.

Nonetheless, she tried anyways. She pumped the magic within her into her hands to see if they could cut through the ropes. As she predicted, no such luck. She sighed, _Guess you can't always win._

By instinct, she tried to grab a key from her belt, only to remember that her keys were already stolen. Lucy kicked a nearby rock out of anger and frustration, _Geez,this is just stupid._

She furrowed her eyebrows as a strand of her blonde hair fell across her eyes. She let out a scream in frustration, "CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP—"

**KADOOSH.** Lucy's scream turned into a muffled squeak as she watched an entire wall fall down. She started to tremble, not even bothering to hide it. Heck, if you just saw a wall fall apart before your eyes, you wouldn't exactly be sipping your afternoon tea either.

She turned to hightail out of there, there was NO way she could fight a monster with her hands tied behind her back even if she did have her keys. It was only then that Lucy took a clear look at her surroundings.

Oh dear.

Her heart flew into a panic, what the…? She had escaped the cubical room only to land into another cubical room with no exit of any sort. She whipped her head around, her eyes widening. The person who had burst in must not have been an enemy, if so, why did he bother to trap her in a room only to break a wall down now? She approached the fallen debris with precaution. She squinted at the shadowy figure appearing as the dust cleared.

"NATSU!" Lucy burst out before she could stop herself, she knew it had to be him... somehow.

"Lucy-hime!" a voice sounded from behind the debris, it sounded somewhat distant. That was Natsu, she recognized his voice!

Lucy had never felt so relieved to see a wall get destroyed before in her life. She ran forward, stumbling a bit in the process. Stupid ropes.

Her heart quickened when she saw a hand appear from behind the crumbled wall. Then, a grinning boy pushed himself up and over the debris. He landed a couple of yards away.

It was Natsu. The idiotic, cheerful, the number one knuckle-head Natsu.

Natsu gave her a thumbs up, grinning, "I found you!" Lucy's eyes widened when she saw his scratched up arm… no his entire body was scratched up. His clothes had become torn and tattered, and even his precious scarf was dirtied.

She stared at his hands, they were a fleshy red and many of his fingernails were cracked and caked with dirt. She lifted her head to meet his smiling face, why did he always go so far? Why was he always such an idiot.

Natsu ran up to her, waving his hand in front of her dazed face, "Lucy-hime?"—he peered down at her—"Are you okay?" He stared at her tied up hands and quickly bent down to untie them.

He worked through the knots quickly, "Geez, I'm going to kill whoever tied you up like that!" The ropes fell to the ground and he dusted his hands off on his pants, "Are you okay Lucy?"

_I'm okay, but you're not, _Lucy thought to herself as she clenched her raw wrists. Her eyes started to water, she couldn't help it. Natsu jerked back in surprise.

He waved his arms around frantically, "Ehhh?! Why are you crying?! Um, uh, er, what do I do? Did I scare you when I broke down the wall? Ah crap, Erza's going to kill me when she finds out I made you cry, I'm so sorr—"

Lucy lowered her head, "Baka," she interrupted him softly.

Natsu stopped, "Eh?"

She snapped her head back up, tears beginning to fall down her face, "Baka, Baka, BAKA!" Was she so weak that her team mates had to risk themselves to save her? Why was she so useless? Her cries had grown to full grown sobs, stupid Natsu. Stupid tears.

A sudden sensation softened Lucy's sobs, catching her by surprise. She opening her eyes and stared up at Natsu. He was smiling gently at her. Lucy let out a small exclamation of surprise when she felt Natsu's hand patting her head. He stroked her hair gently.

He reassured her, "It's okay Lucy-hime, it's all okay now." He grinned stupidly, Lucy sniffled, then went quiet. She rubbed her eyes roughly, yeah, that's right. Why was she crying? Natsu would feel bad and think he upset her or something... she didn't want him to think that way.

He took her hand and pulled her forward, toward the broken down wall. Lucy could only stare at the back of her team mate. How could someone like him be so strong? He was the same age as her, but sometimes he seemed years older than her. Of course, there were also times where he seemed years younger than her.

She couldn't help but laugh, "Natsu-san," she called out.

Natsu turned his head around, "What?"

She beamed, she really wanted to tell him this.

"Thank you."

Natsu stopped running, as if he had not expected her to thank him. He faced her and gave her a confident thumbs up, "Ain't nothing to it Lucy-hime."

Yup, that's Natsu she knew.

. . . . . . . .

_Natsu's P.O.V._

He glanced back at the little blonde girl who was struggling to keep up. Natsu couldn't help but puzzle over her outburst from a minute ago. Lucy-hime… was well… Lucy-hime. The name said it all. She was usually reaaaaaally polite, way too polite actually. But what had just happened really blew him away.

"_Baka, Baka, BAKA!" _

He let out a small laugh at the memory, prompting Lucy-hime to look at him weirdly.

"What is so funny, Natsu-san?"

He just waved his hand dismissingly, "Nothing, nothing!" She just stared at him questioningly, but didn't ask him anything anymore.

A smile formed on Natsu's lips, geez, she was really was so fun to be around. Who gets mad like that? At first he had really thought she was mad at him (he didn't know exactly WHY though), but she seemed like she was just a little worried and scared.

Lucy-hime pulled his arm a little, "N… Natsu-san… I'm a little… tired…" she panted. Natsu quickly slowed to a stop, _Oops, I forgot about that. _Lucy stood there, bended down on her knees, panting a little bit. She brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her face, "Let's go find Erza and Gray… but can we walk?"

Natsu scratched his cheek sheepishly, "Er… sure _Luce_!" Lucy wiped away the sweat forming at her brow and the two began to walk at a slower pace. Natsu gently held her hand and they walked at a comfortable pace. He looked around at the surroundings, there were lots of walls and turns. He was pretty lost actually.

"Ah!" Lucy exclaimed loudly enough to surprise him. Natsu almost jumped, "W-What is it Luce?" He flinched when he met her overly sparkly gaze.

"You called me Luce!" she spoke excitedly, pumping her fist a bit. Natsu nodded, a bit confused, "Yeah, I called you Luce. Do you not like it?"

She shook her head vigorously, "Nonono! I like it a lot!" she let out a smile that could have put flowers to shame, "I'm just really happy that you're not calling me Lucy-hime!"

"Wait, do you dislike being called Lucy-hime?" Natsu asked incredulously, he thought she liked it.

His question sent Lucy into another round of head shakes, "No!" she cried out, sounding a bit upset that he would even THINK that, "I like Lucy-hime… it's my name at Fairy Tail. It's just that,"—Lucy hesitated—"I'd a nickname too sometimes… kinda like how Gray calls you droopy eyes."

_Ouch… that hurt unexpectedly, _Natsu thought awkwardly. But he kind of understood what Lucy met, nicknames (NOT DROOPY EYES) made you feel like better friends sometimes.

Natsu blinked, was that really all there was to it though? "Really? Then I'll just call you Luce from now on there if you'd like." Lucy laughed heartedly, "I'd like that very much, Natsu-san."

"But!" Natsu held up a finger with a stern face, "Only if you call me Natsu."

It was strange how her face changed into the color of a tomato after he said that. "Oh Lucy, you're red," Natsu commented on the obvious.

"E-Eh… really?" Lucy used her free-hand to pat her cheek, "I didn't notice, that's really weird." She seemed pretty puzzled about it herself. But then again, Lucy had never managed to say someone's name without any honorifics before.

Lucy patted her warm cheeks, muttering to herself, "Maybe it's just something I ate." Natsu shrugged, he didn't have a clue either.

Lucy took a deep breath, then stammered around for a while, as if trying to say something. Her eyes darted back and forth, as if flustered. Natsu didn't know what she was trying to say though, "Huh? Speak up Lucy, I can't hear you."

She pouted for a second, then yelled at the top of her lungs, "NATSUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Wow.

The flame haired boy stared at her with a newfound respect, that was loud, even for him. He laughed and patted her head, "That was pretty good Luce. Yup, just like that, keep up the good work!"

The girl's face was now a darker shade of red, if that was possible. They took a left turn. Something seemed to flash across Lucy's mind, "Hey N-Natsu."

"Yeah?"

"Were you in a trap?"

Natsu mused for a moment, "I guess, if that's what you called it. I was surrounded by this really sharp kind of spinning water," he waved his hand around to illustrate it for her—"And I couldn't get out no matter how hard I tried to bust out of there."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, "So how did you get out then?"

He grinned, "Easy! I just thought what you would do if you were in there!"

Lucy gaped at him, "Huh?"

Natsu explained what had happened, "Remember our last mission where you boiled water for us to drink and told me to watch it?"

Lucy slowly nodded, as if remembering, "Yeah," she said slowly, "And you thought I meant that you were supposed to protect it from the enemy. I actually meant…" her eyes widened, and her mouth formed a small "o".

Natsu did a thumbs-up, "You told me to watch it so the water wouldn't disappear from all that fire and heat and stuff. I forgot and it was all gone when you guys came back. I remembered that and basically heated up the water spinning around me. Pretty smart huh?"

Lucy stared at him, wide-eyes, "I can't believe it…"

"What?"

"N-Natsu, you actually did something really smart!"

"HEY!" he complained loudly, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lucy giggled, shaking her head, "Sorry, sorry!"

Natsu pouted, "Geez… Lucy, you're slowly becoming like the rest of the guild." Lucy's smile only grew broader.

"Thanks, Natsu!"

. . . . . . . .

X.x.X

_Don't murder me. It's a short chapter, but if all my upcoming chapters are this long, I can update more frequently. Plus, I'm going to give you guys more NaLu moments, so let's be happy, ne? :D_

_Yeah, I didn't focus much on their situation yet. They'll be more into adventure mode next time, I wanted to do some fan service on this one since I made you guys wait so long. I know it may seem a little less romance for some of you, but keep in mind that their only… twelve. I want to keep their innocence a bit longer . And plus, Lucy and Natsu are both clueless, I don't want to lose that!_

_Reviews Reviews Reviews! ^.^/_


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